Twilight and Spike woke up to a knock upon their door. “Who could it be this early in the morning?”

Twilight groggily went down the stairs to her front door and opened it slowly “Hello?” She was greeted by a smile from Merry and surprisingly Scootaloo.

“Hey Twilight, we are here for some breakfast.” Merry just kept his grin on, and Scootaloo stood next to him with a sleepy smile on.

“Oh, I thought it was only you coming Merry...” Twilight looked at Scootaloo then back to Merry “Why is Scootaloo with you anyway?”

“Because I’m watching over Scoots for awhile. No big deal, is Scoots being here gonna be a problem?” Merry raised an eyebrow at Twilight

Twilight had hoped for a nice breakfast with Merry to try and set things right, with Scootaloo there it made it a bit awkward. And why was Merry watching her anyway? Where are her parents?

“Umm no its fine I guess, we just don’t have much food if were gonna be serving four...”

“That’s fine, I don’t eat much anyway, lets go get started shall we?” Merry had walked in followed by Scoots who had a bit of a confused look on her face. Merry sat down on a nearby couch in the living room and motioned for Scoots to sit next to him. “We're just gonna wait here, so call us when its done yeah?”

“Oh uh alright then, I’m just gonna go get Spike.” Twilight walked up the stairs.

“Hey Merry, why didn’t Twilight know I was coming as well? I thought you said you told her we were coming?” Scoots looked over at Merry as she sat on the couch totally confused.

“Well uh, I told her to give me breakfast if she was sorry, and decided to use that to bring you along and get you some as well. So don’t worry about it, I’ll take any blame if things go bad, But I’m sure they wont. Twilight wouldn’t be so cruel as to just kick you out.” Merry just relaxed back into the couch with his hands behind his head and felt his hair. ‘I need a fucking shower, my hair feels like string.’

Scoots figured that answer was good enough, and it wouldn’t be the 1st time she had to go with out breakfast if she had to leave anyway.

Twilight came down the stairs with Spike in tow. “Alright breakfast for 4 coming up Twi, don’t worry, I’ll figure something out.” Spike just yawned as Merry and Scootaloo waved to him as he walked into the kitchen followed by Twilight.

After sitting on the couch for a good 10 minutes Twilight called out to them to come and get some breakfast. They went into the kitchen and saw 4 plates laid out with 1 egg, 1 piece of toast a small pile of hay and some orange slices on each one. Except for Spikes plate as it had some green gems upon it in place of hay. Scootaloo grabbed up a spot on the table and Merry sat next to her followed by Twilight taking the spot between Merry and Spike.

“So Merry mind explaining why Scootaloo is here with us?” Merry just looked over to Scoots who had a look of fear in her eyes at being found out. ‘Looks like I need to make something up.’

“Yesterday while I was walking around town I ran into Scoots and her parents. Scoots here didn’t want to leave with them on a business trip because then the Cutie mark crusaders would be broken up, So I opted to watch over her here until they got back. Like I said, not a big deal.” Merry slowly began to nibble at his food. Taking small bites here and there.

Scootaloo was more then satisfied by this answer, It made it sound like she did have parents, and that Merry was now her guardian while they were out of town. So she began to greedily eat the food in front of her. “Yeah, they didn’t say when they would be back, so it will probably be awhile.”

“And there ya have it Twilight, No big deal.” Merry continued to slowly eat, not feeling all that hungry, while Scootaloo and the others pretty much finished.

“Hey Spike, I’m still a little hungry, can I get seconds?” Scootaloo just smiled at Spike

“Sorry Scootaloo, Twilight has to go shopping later today for more food, that was everything left in the fridge.” Spike scratched his head.

“Oh...that’s ok then.” Merry just looked over to Scootaloo and then pushed his plate over to her.

“Here you can eat the rest of mine, I need to get going to Fluttershy's anyway.” With that Merry got up and waved bye to them. Scootaloo happily ate the rest of Merry’s food and then jumped down from the table.

“Thanks for breakfast Twilight and Spike. I’ll see you later today with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, we wanna check out a book for later.” Twilight just raised an eyebrow as Scoots went to the door.

“You’re welcome Scoots, I’ll do my best to help you later when you come by.” Scoots just hopped out the door and then closed it behind her.

“So it seems Merry is watching Scootaloo now huh?” Spike just looked at Twilight.

“It would seem that way Spike, speaking of, have we ever meet her parents before?” Twilight looked up in thought.

“Don’t think so Twi, but then again we only know about Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom because you’re friends with their older sisters.”

“Very true spike, Very true.”

“Hey you know what Twi?” Twilight looked over to Spike

“What?”

“You forgot to tell him Princess Celestia got him a house to stay in while he's here in Ponyville.” Twilight just facehoofed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merry walked on toward Fluttershy's house with his iPod on listening to some Godsmack. When he thought to himself. 'I really need a shower and some new clothes. Along with a freaking haircut, I feel like some kind of emo kid with this long hair.' By the time Merry reached Fluttershys house she was already outside feeding some fish in a pond.

“Hey, Fluttershy! Am I late already?” Merry just walked up to her as she continued to throw some food into the pond.

“Umm, just a little bit, but its ok, I can feed the fish just fine.” Fluttershy kicks the ground a bit and then looks at Merry. “You can come help me feed the rabbits now, then we can move on to the chicken’s and the other animals that eat in the morning.”

Fluttershy and Merry spent about an hour feeding the various animals breakfast and making sure none of them were sick or injured. Merry realized Fluttershy pretty much ran a Vet out of her house as well. She cared for various animals that lived in nearby areas and the Everfree forest as well. Many of the animals were only there as temporary stays until they got better. Hell even their families came and were taken care of, an entire family of mice lived there because one of them got injured...all 16 of them stayed. Not that big of a deal since mice don’t eat a lot, but jeez she might be too kind.

“Alright Merry that takes care of the morning round, now we have free time until lunch, unless an emergency comes up.” Fluttershy smiled at Merry who began to scratch his head.

“Nothing to do ehh? When is lunch exactly?” Merry just looked up into the sky

“Lunch is in about 2 hours Merry, umm if you don’t mind, you wanna just talk to pass the time?” Fluttershy began to look at the ground and hide behind her mane.

“Yeah sure, no problem, what did you wanna talk about?” Merry just put his hand on his chin in thought

“Oh just about you really...I mean if its ok that is.”

“Oh its fine I don’t mind telling you about myself, now where to begin? Well I’m 18 years old fresh out of high school, I guess I could be classified as an Otaku, but not in the common sense, I took the Otaku lifestyle and applied it to my own, so I’m not a total nerd. Actually I guess I’m more of a muscle head, I don’t like thinking things through, I kinda just do what ever feels right, you know?” Fluttershy just shook her head

“I’ve never done anything because I felt like doing it, I just do what needs to be done.”

“That’s a good trait to have, I wish that trait of mine would come out more often. I end up doing so many things that get me into trouble, its pretty stupid.” Merry paused for a moment “but I guess that’s what makes me, me right?”

“Oh yes of course, if you cant be yourself, then who can you be? But um...what’s an otaku?” Merry just chuckled to himself a bit

“An Otaku is basically a person that loves um...” Merry thought for a moment, ‘do they even have TV?’ “You guys have cartoons? Its like a show you watch...”

“Well yes we have shows and plays of the like at times. But those are mostly in Canterlot.” Merry just looked at Fluttershy ‘ok, so they don’t have TV apparently, how odd...alright then’

“Alright well a cartoon is basically a show that a bunch of people watch for entertainment once a week because its free. An Otaku is a person who is so involved with a show that he or she dresses like the characters, supports the show entirely or like me, does their best to imitate the characters in the show. At lest that’s what I think an Otaku is, Others just kinda labeled me as that.”

“Oh, that’s nice. So you said you were 18? How old is that for your race?”

“Being 18 means I get treated like an adult, without all the cool things that being an adult gives you. Like being able to drink alcohol legally. I still do it though when I get the chance.” Merry looked at Fluttershy who was in a bit of thought.

“I wonder if we could go drinking with Applejack later today...I mean if that’s ok with you. She makes some of the best hard cider. I’m not much of a drinker though...”

‘They have Alcohol here?! Ohh fuck yeah. Glad they have enough tech and know how to make mans greatest invention.’

“Don’t you worry about that Fluttershy, I’ll drink enough for the both of us.” Merry just laughed a hearty laugh, one he hasn’t done in such a long time. He would finally be able to drink again and let out his pent up stress and restlessness that had built up over the last three days.

Fluttershy just smiled knowing that Merry seemed actually happy for a change. When she had met up with Twilight the day before because Merry had gone missing Pinkie had made a comment that he only looked happy on the outside. After all Pinkie, being the element of laughter, knows when someone is truly happy or not.

Merry had decided to tell Fluttershy about a few of his drunk adventures, that usually involved him being alone and wandering around the street causing trouble. After some of the stories lunch time had rolled around, so they set up to feed all the various animals again except the fish who only ate breakfast apparently. After about another hour of feeding them Fluttershy had declared the day of work over and it would be ok to go do other things for the rest of the day.

“I’ll go get today’s pay Merry, I wont need you everyday, so I’ll just pay daily.” Fluttershy goes into her cottage and returns with 3 gold coins.

“Here...I hope its enough bits...” Merry took the gold coins

“Not a problem, The fact you’re paying me at all for such little work is awesome.” Merry pocketed the bits and waved his hand in the air as he walked away. He then suddenly stopped and turned around “Oh yeah, when were we gonna go out drinking?”

“Um, I can ask all the girls, but we can probably work something out for tonight, it is Friday after all.”

“Excellent! Now 2 more questions. One, Who do I go to about getting a house? And two, where can I go to get new clothes.” Fluttershy smiled at the thought of Merry deciding to get a house and stay.

“To get a house you would need to speak to the mayor of Ponyville or her secretary, they can arrange that for you. And as for new clothes, I guess you could try Rarity, she would be able to custom make something for you.”

‘Hm, I guess I should go about figuring out how to get a house and how much money I would need to put down, then go get some clothes or see about it before drinking tonight.’

“Alright well thanks again, If you’ll excuse me I have some errands to run now.” Merry turned around and walked in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Granny Smith was rocking back N’ forth in her rocking chair on the porch when she saw Merry coming down the path headed her way. She continued to rock back N’ forth until Merry stood in front of her.

“Hello, is Applejack around?”

“Well yes she is sunny, but shes’a working the orchard right now tending to our trees. Anything I can do fer ya?” She continued to rock back N’ forth looking at Merry with interest.

“Well I just wanted to give her something is all, I suppose I could just drop it off...” Granny Smith cut him off mid sentence

“Nonesense boy-o! Just pull up a seat, Applejack will be coming by with Big Mac any minute now with a cart full a apples, I’ve got the timing down to a T. So sit and relax with me, lets talk.”

“Well uh sure why not. My names Merry, what’s your name?”

“Names Granny Smith. It’s a pleasure to meet ya Mary.” ‘Close enough I guess.’

“So are Applejack’s parents working in the field as well? Or did they go...” Merry stopped talking as he noticed Granny Smiths expression change. Her happy demeanor disappeared, and her eyes seemed to watch something far away.

“No, they were taken from us in an accident awhile back.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want too.”

“No, its quite alright sunny, its not you’re fault, and it helps to talk about it, it helps me remember them. You know, Apple Bloom stopped asking when mom and dad were gonna be back from the business trip about 2 years ago. She was so young when it happened.”

Merry was silent, he didn’t know what to do and felt uncomfortable. Granny smith was pouring on the sadness and topping it with regret in her voice.

“You know Mary, I always wondered if it would of been different if I left instead of them. It was my duty to leave anyway, but I had a cold so they opted to go in my stead. No mother should have to bury her child.” Granny Smith just sighed heavily

“Hey its not your fault some freak accident happened and they died. You can’t blame your self for that.”

“I guess you’re right Mary, I’m old now there’s nothing I can do about it, and the kids grew up just fine and strong even without parents.” Granny smiths eyes narrowed as she turned to look at Merry “I don’t want to have to bury one of my grandchildren, I’d do anything to make sure nothing bad happens to them.”

Merry was about to say something when he heard shouting “Hey! What are yall doing bothering Granny Smith!” Granny Smith got her Happy demeanor back and waved to Applejack

“Well Hello there deary! Mary and I were just chatting it up like the young fillies we are.” Merry face palmed while Applejack laughed.

“Well alright then, but what are you here for anyway?”

“Just came by to drop off the 3 bits I owe you is all. Also,Fluttershy was gonna try and set up a time for us to drink some of your famous hard cider tonight.” Applejack stopped laughing

“Sometimes Ah think that mare can be too kind. Ah’m only gonna bring a barrel because Fluttershy hardly drinks and Ah can’t turn her down when she wants too.”

‘A barrel? Is that like a Keg?’ “Alright cool, Thanks a lot Applejack.” Merry waved to Granny smith. “It was a pleasure talking to you as well Granny Smith. We should chat again sometime.” With that Merry walked on toward town in an attempt to find the town’s City Hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mayor Mare was working on... well nothing actually. There was so little to be done this time of the year she had sent her secretary home early. So Mayor Mare was just spinning around in her chair waiting for the time to pass until there was a knock on her door.

“A visitor? I wonder what’s going on.” Mayor Mare went over to her door and saw Merry, who looked odd wearing dirty clothes and smelling of random animals.

“I’m sorry sir, but this is City hall, If you’re looking for a shelter there’s one on the east side of town.” Merry just laughed

“No no, this is the right place I'm looking for. I know my current attire doesn’t say much but... well actually I am homeless. I’m here to figure out how I would go about getting a house of my own.” Mayor Mare was shocked, Not only was this ragged looking creature asking her for a place to live, but he expected he had to buy it. After staring for a bit, Mayor Mares mind clicked on.

“You mean ever sense you got here, You’ve been sleeping outside?!”

“Well yes actually, I never had a house, and I didn’t want to impose upon anyone, so I simply slept outside in the park.”

“Oh no no no! Heavens no! You should of said something before! I got a letter from Princess Celestia telling me to have a house ready for you and set up if you ever decided to stay for a long period of time. Didn’t Twilight tell you?”

‘I bet she forgot on purpose. But this sure as hell fixes all my problems with where to shower and getting a house for Scoots as well.’

“No, I guess it just slipped her mind. Mind showing me where my house is?” Mayor Mare smiled, she finally had something to do.

“I would be delighted! Follow me, I’ll grab your house warming gift sent from Princess Celestia and Luna.” Mayor Mare placed a basket upon her back and led Merry outside where he followed her around the town.

“You know I was shocked when I got a letter from the Princess telling me to ready a house for an alien. But now that you’re here its so exciting! Oh and do forgive me for thinking you were, um, a less fortunate.” Merry just laughed

“Oh don’t worry about it, I know how I look, and I probably smell just as bad honestly. Cant wait to go take a shower.” Mayor Mare chuckled a bit.

“Oh yes, we have set everything up at your new home, everything was paid for by the princesses in full. After all we cant have our only space alien being homeless can we? That’s just bad manners after all.” Merry stopped to look at a grey Pegasus with a bubbles Cutie mark playing with a filly that had the same hair color. Mayor Mare noticed him stop and turned to look who he was looking at.

“Oh that is Miss Ditzy with her filly Dinky. They are your neighbors on the left side actually and they live with Golden Harvest. The neighbors on your right side are Lyra and Bon Bon who also live together.”

‘I wonder if I will have to make nice with the new neighbors. I’m not really good at that. Actually, I wonder if they would be down to drink with us. We could just drink in my new house as a celebration I guess.’

After a few more minutes of walking they arrived at the house, it looked like a standard two story house, that looks pretty much the same as the other surrounding houses. “Looks good, but I’m gonna have to add something to the front door so I can tell it apart from the others, Heh.”

Mayor Mare opened the front door, she literally just opened the door, no key or anything. ‘Do they not believe in locks or something?’ When he got inside he saw a deadbolt and some other locks that would keep the door from being opened from the outside. ‘Well, if I get locked out I’m fucked aren’t I?’

Merry walked around the living room and into the kitchen and checked the fridge, empty of course. But there was everything he could think of, pots and pans, all the furniture and everything else was completely set up. Even upstairs was fully furnished, the only thing missing was clothes and some other things that would be of a more personal nature.

“Wow this house is sure set up nicely, do you know how much the princesses spent exactly?”

“Well the rough estimates we sent them for the bill ran about 10,000 bits.” Merry mulled the number over in his head for a bit.

‘I would of had to work for Fluttershy for like 13 years everyday to make that much, holy crap.’

“I’ll have to remember to thank them later next time I see them. Well lets see what they gave me in the basket shall we?”

Merry put the basket onto a table in the living room and moved over the little cover and saw a bag with a note on it.

The note read:

Dear ningen named Merry,

My faithful Student Twilight Sparkle has told me of your date with her. Because it sounds like you are going to stay awhile I decided to have arrangements set for you to live comfortably while you stay within our realm. As for the bag, It contains 1,000 bits, that should help get you started in buying what ever food you need along with other items of a more personal nature. Also a real stallion doesn’t let his date pay for things. On a side note my Little Sister Luna would like to meet an alien so we are coming down to Ponyville in two days time around noon. I hope we can find some time away from the Griffin royalty who have been following us around all day. They are quite snobbish and persistent with wanting to negotiate some more land from us.

-See you soon

Princess Celestia and Luna.

P.S. Be gentle with my Student

“Um, When did this basket get here?” Merry looked over to the Mayor who was also shocked as Merry had read the Letter aloud.

“They sent this yesterday, So I’m guessing they will be here tomorrow.” Merry face palmed

“Cant believe Twilight forgot to tell me about all of this, heh, I wonder how surprised she will be tomorrow, I might just ‘forget’ to tell her about this letter. Ha-Ha”

“Well you don’t need to tell Miss Sparkle, but I for certain am going to spruce up the town a bit. Seems I have something to do tomorrow morning. I’ll see you around Merry the alien, I have some things to attend too now.” She then walked out the door. And quickly began to trot back toward City Hall.

“Well first things first, time for a shower.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merry got out of the shower with his hair still damp and he looked over to his clothes. That were all dirty, torn and ragged looking. They really made him look like some Hobo from outer space.

“Guess I need to go find some cloths, I really don’t wanna wear these dirty ass clothes though, I guess I just walk around with the pants. My white shirt is now brown. At least blue jeans still pass as clean even when dirty.” Merry threw the bottom half of his cloths on and went out the door.

After asking for directions to Rarities and getting odd stares from the mares and stallions Merry decided it was because of the tattoo on his back. They must of thought it was his Cutie Mark or something. It wasn’t until he almost got to the Carousal Boutique, as they called it, that he saw Sweetie Belle who had a bunch of stuff in tow with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom following her.

“Hey girls! What chu doing?”

“Merry! You really are all Better!”

“See, I told you girls he was fine.”

“Yeah you were right Scootaloo.”

All three of the Crusaders had big smiles on their faces, as it occurred to Merry that he never got back to the other crusaders about his condition.

“Anyway girls, I just thought of a project for you. You wanna have a go at it?” The three little Fillies just looked at each other then smiled up at Merry.

“YEAH! What do you need help with?” With 3 expectant looks they just kept beaming their huge smiles at Merry who just laughed.

“Glad to see you’re enthusiastic. I want you girls to go to my new house and spruce it up a bit for me. Make it stand out, It looks so much like the others Im afraid I’ll confuse it and walk into the wrong house. It’s the house between Ditzy’s and Lyra’s.”

“You got a house already?!” all three of them said in unison.

“Yeah, pretty odd really, but you know how it goes. New alien, princess decides to give you a house, pretty standard I guess. Hehe” Merry just looked back at them after chuckling “The only thing I ask is that you paint this on my door, and fill the fridge up with food for me.” Merry handed them a piece of paper with the numbers 115 written on it and handed them a small bag filled with bits. Scootaloo opened the bag and gasped.

“There must be at lest 100 bits in here!”

“Really? I meant to put more, oh well, there’s more in my house on the table if you run out while sprucing it up...just try not to spend it all.” Merry watched as the 3 fillies bounced their way down the street with their stuff still in tow.

‘I sure hope I know what I’m doing. But at least this should save me some time from shopping right?’ Merry shook his head and walked into Rarities home and place of work.

“Sweetie Belle what did you forget this time?” Rarity spun around and noticed the shirtless Merry at the door instead of her little sister and gasped “Oh my, I’m sorry I thought you were Sweetie Belle and her friends. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Yes actually, I would like to commission some clothes if at all possible, a set actually. Nothing fancy just similar to what I had when you first saw me, but less torn and with different colors.” Rarity just looked at Merry with a discerning eye

“As you can see, my shirt was how you say...useless, and my pants are getting there. I will need a new set of clothes if you don’t mind. I don’t mind walking around naked, but Id rather have something to wear.”

“Well after hearing about your, little problem, I can see why you wish to remain covered. But fear not, I shall whip up something quick for you.”

“Thats a little straight forward don’t you think?”

“Oh dear, I am the element of Generosity not kindness.” Rarity chuckled and gave Merry a sultry look before turning around and bringing over a measuring tape. “Now hold still for a second dear while I take what I need.”

Merry just stood there while Rarity basically took control, she lifted his arms and took measurements of his arms and legs, then paused to look at his tattoo.

“What’s with this dragon on your back darling? Is it supposed to be your Cutie mark?”

“Ah, well I guess you could call it that, Its just something I strive to be like, The Copper Dragon. A fun lover of jokes and intellect, sadly I’m not that smart. But anyway, about my clothes”

“Of yes of course darling, I should have something ready for you by tomorrow in the morning.”

“Excellent, I’ll pay you of course, and it doesn’t need to be anything fancy. Just simple and plain for everyday wear that’s easy to clean.” Rarity put her hoof to her chin in thought.

“I think I can manage that no problem. Leave it to me!” Merry clapped his hands together

“Good, also theres gonna be a small party at my new house, I’ll be happy if you could show up. Sweetie Belle and her friends know where it is so you can bring her along if you have too. I’m sure she will keep Scootaloo company.”

“And why would Sweetie Belle know where you live?” Rarity had raised her eyebrow with a look of concern.

“Oh I just have the Cutie Mark Crusaders sprucing up my house is all. Hopefully it wont be too much trouble on my end.” Rarity just shook her head

“I suggest you hurry home before something bad happens. I’ll be just fine here, Maybe I’ll show up.” Merry just nodded his head and got worried for a bit.

‘Maybe that the feeling in my gut is my new house being destroyed’ Merry walked outside and made a B line straight back to his house. When he arrived he could clearly tell what house was his. It was painted several colors, and the numbers 115 were painted in white on the front door.

‘At lest they got that right, and there’s no way in hell I’m going to confuse this for someone else’s house now.’ Merry walked up to the front door and opened it. Inside it was a mess, food and cakes of all kinds were everywhere and party streamers had been set up with a big banner saying welcome to Ponyville and your new home.

‘Holy shit balls, I was gone for like an hour at most. How did they get all of this?’ Out of nowhere a pink pony zooms down the stairs and stops infront of Merry.

“Hey! After the CMC told me about your new house I decided to help them throw a party for you. I already helped them paint and buy all the food, cakes, cookies, and anything else you could possibly need!” Pinkie then got close and nudged Merry in the side “I got you something I think you’ll like, its under your bed in a brown box.” Merry just raised an eyebrow at her

“Uh, thanks?” Pinkie just smiled

“Noo Problem Amigo, I will go get everyone else now. I’ll make sure Applejack brings an extra Barrel.” Merry just watched as Pinkie quickly went out the door.

‘How odd, now I wonder where the fillies went’ Merry went up the stairs and went from room to room until he found the 3 of them playing in a room with some toys that weren’t there before.

“Hey how you 3 doing?” The 3 of them just smiled a bit sheepishly

“Oh hey we hope you don’t mind, but we used some of the money to buy us some things...”

“You know! As uh, payment for helping you.” Merry just laughed

“No no not at all, as long as you didn’t spend everything Its fine.” Merry takes the bag back that he gave them and sees there’s 1 bit left inside.

‘Well they didn’t spend everything, just most of it’ Merry just looked to the 3 girls and smiled.

“Thanks again, you guys are welcome to come over anytime. Also there’s going to be a party later, mind coming with me to invite the neighbors?” The 3 fillies looked to each other then shouted

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER PARTY INVITES GO!” They then pulled several cards that looked to be hoof written and drawn. They presented them to Merry, who couldn’t read them for shit.

“Will these work Merry?” Merry just looked at them and shrugged.

“Yeah it should be fine, lets go.” Merry walked down the stairs and out the front door followed by the 3 little fillies who were happy to be a part of something. They went next door to Lyra and Bon Bon’s house 1st and knocked upon the door. A turquoise pony opened the door and looked Merry up and down and was fixated on his hands.

“Is there something I can help you with?”

“Well, I'm your new neighbor so I decided to invite you to a party I’m having tonight at my place. I’m sure it will be fun. Oh, have an invitation.” Merry handed her one of the invitations and she read it, then looked up to Merry who smiled at her. She blushed a bit.

‘What does that invitation even say...’ Scootaloo spoke up from behind Merry followed by Sweetie Belle and Bloom.

“Yeah its gonna be loads of fun!” Merry smiled

“Merry is loads of fun as well!” Merry got a bigger smile

“And he’s a looker!” Merry’s smile got smaller as he now felt awkward. “Just look at his muscles!” Sweetie Belle was squeaking as she spoke.

“Um yeaah...” the turquoise pony just looked Merry up and down again.

“I’ll show up, and I’ll bring Bon Bon with me, could be fun.” Merry sighed in victory

“Alright then I’ll see you later at my new house.” Merry walked with the 3 fillies down the street to the other side to invite his other neighbor Ditzy and Golden.

‘What on earth are these three up to, and what did the invitation say to make her blush? Scootaloo and the girls wrote them right?’

“Hey girls, who gave you the idea for those invitations?”

“Pinkie Pie did!” Merry rolled his eye’s

‘Oh man’ “and what does the card say exactly?”

“You cant read it Merry?”

“Sadly no, we speak the same. But our written languages are different.”

“Why did ya agree if’n ya couldn’t read it?”

“Figured what ever was written on it was fine.”

“Well it is fine so don’t worry about it!”The 3 of them just smiled at Merry as they continued to walk towards Ditzy’s house. When they got to the front of the house they could see a small grey filly with blonde hair playing in the front yard.

“Hey little one, is your mom home?”

“Yeah! She's inside let me go get her!” The little filly raced inside the house and began shouting. After a bit she came back outside with the one Mayor Mare had told him goes by the name Ditzy. “Told you mommy! The alien is here with 3 other fillies!”

“Well hello there! What can I help you with?” Ditzy had a big smile on her face.

“Oh not much, I just wanted to invite you to a party at my house tonight.”

“A party? Oh I don’t know if I can find a foal sitter by then...”

“Hey don’t worry about it, Scootaloo here is gonna be there as well, they can play together upstairs, and you’re free to check on her anytime. I’m not planning to let things get out of control.” Merry handed Ditzy the invitation. “Bring Golden Harvest as well, its to welcome me as being new around here.”

Ditzy didn't bother to read the invitation and just smiled “Well I’ll be happy to show up then! Do you wanna go to a Party tonight Dinky?” Dinky just smiled and shouted

“Yeah!” Merry just laughed

“Good good, I’ll see you later on then. I guess I need to go get my house ready for guests.”

“But Pinkie Pie got everything all set up! Remember?”

“Oh yeah, then what do I do?” Merry said, Scootaloo spoke up

“How about we go get some more toys! Your house really didn’t have anything fun to play with last we checked...” Merry shook his head in agreement, “I guess you’re right, can't let you and Dinky get bored can we?” Merry waved bye to Ditzy and Dinky as they went back to his house next door to grab his sack of bits.

“Where did you get all that money Merry?”

“The Princess gave it to me as a house warming gift. Nice isn’t she?” Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom all shook their heads in agreement.

“Now just lead me to the toy store and lets get started shall we?” Scootaloo and her two friends were skipping ahead of Merry to lead the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘I’m pretty sure I’ve been here before, are they taking me around in circles?’ after a bit they come up to what Merry assumed was a toy shop because it had a wooden train on top of it with some other fillies and colts running around outside.

“Hooray we found it girls!” The 3 fillies began to skip circles around Merry.

‘They were lost!' “Alright girls, lets get inside and get some things for you to play with upstairs while the adults mingle.”

Scootaloo had rushed forward followed by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Merry just laughed at their enthusiasm and followed them inside. Boy oh boy, it was a toy store alright. Huge displays of model homes and giant things, literally things, Merry couldn’t figure out what they could possibly be. Must of been a pony thing. After roaming around the store for a bit a pony with an apron on approached him.

“Can I help you sir?” Merry just put his hand to his chin in thought.

“Well, I hope so, you see I’m having a party at my home soon and I was just looking for something to entertain some fillies and possibly colts while us adults mingle a bit.” The stallion wearing the apron thought for a second then his face brightened up.

“I think I have the perfect choice, follow me” The Apron wearing pony lead the way two isles over and picked up a board game with a bunch of fillies and colts on the front playing something with a ball and a mat.

“This is one of our best sellers for entertaining groups of young ones. I’m sure it will work perfectly.” Merry grabbed it up with his free hand and looked at it.

“Ya don’t say... Well thanks a bunch. Hey why don’t you come as well, the more the merrier right?” Merry handed him one of the invitations, and he read it.

“A singles party eh? I could use a Marefriend. Names Red Rocket by the way. I’ve got a talent for rockets, The red ones go higher in my opinion.” Merry had to stifle back a laugh which wasn’t hard now he knew what those invitations said.

‘SINGLES PARTY?! That explains a lot of things with that turquoise ponies reaction. What is that pink one planning.'

“Sweet, bring some guys friends if you have any, so far it looked like I was going to be the only boy.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, the male to female ratio in this town is like 1-8.” Red sighed “1-8 and I still don’t have a blasted marefriend, I gotta stallion up already” Merry held the sack of bits and the game in the same hand and patted Red on the back.

“Don’t worry bro, I’ll be your wing man if you show up.”

“Wing man? But I cant fly and I don’t think you can either.” Merry just laughed

“Not what I meant bro. I meant I’ll back you up and make you look good when you go to talk to some of the mares.”

“Ooh you mean a Chariot pony, I got ya. Sure I’ll show up, bring some of my single guy friends as well.”

“Excellant, I’ll see you around. Now I gotta find 3 fillies I came here with.” Merry shook his hoof and went along his way to look for them. Which wasn’t hard when he saw Scootaloo with a toy sword in her mouth slashing the air chasing Sweetie Belle who had a toy shield strapped to her hoof.

“FOR PRINCESS CELESTIA!” Sweetie Belle was blocking the attacks from Scootaloo when she shouted back

“FOR PRINCESS LUNA!” Apple Bloom came down from the top of a shelf fully clad in armor and a spear in her hoof shouting back

“FOR PRINCESS CADENCE!” She landed between Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle and spun her spear in the air knocking them both back tumbling into stacked toys, both stacks fell apart and made a huge mess.

“I think its time you girls stopped destroying the store before they kick us out.” The girls zipped in front of Merry beaming with smiles and said in unison

“We all want the Knights armor and weapons sets!” Merry shrugged.

“Alright then show me where you got them, and I’ll get a few extra sets in case you decide to build an army or something.” Merry just laughed as he followed them back to the isle full of toy weapons, armor and various other items that would make it easy to play out a full scale play war.

“Why don’t you girls grab a cart or something while I wait here yeah?”

“OK!” The 3 fillies raced off to the front of the store and quickly came back with a cart.

Merry filled the cart to the brim with various sets of armor, weapons of all kinds and shields, they even had working bows, how the ponies held them was beyond Merry. They went to the front of the store and the cashier looked a little shocked, she has never seen someone buy so much as once before. She began to ring them up and bag them all, one at a time...rather slowly.

“So what made you guys want to play Knights?”

“Because you’re one silly, you were so cool when you fought off those timber wolves for us, we wanted to be the Cutie Mark Crusader Knights!” Merry just felt a pang in his heart at how cute they sounded. And wanting to be a knight like him, even though he wasn’t actually a knight?

“Well alright then, But being a knight isn’t easy. You have to train and be strong as well as brave in the face of danger. Not only that, but you must uphold your moral's and personal beliefs.” Merry just softly smiled at them “But have fun while you’re still young.”

“Your total is 756 bits Sir.” Merry coughed up some blood at the huge sum of money and handed her his sack of bits. When he got it back it was pretty much empty.

“Never buying you guys toys again. Ha-ha. “ Merry looked at all the stuff he got and shrugged “I’m going to use your cart to help me take all this stuff home with me, I’ll bring it back alright?” The Cashier just shook her head in agreement

“Oh don’t worry about it, you’re our best customer so far to date.” Merry just grumbled to him self a bit as he walked out the door with his huge amount of toy armaments.

“Alright you girls head on home, you’re more then welcome to come by and play with the new stuff when your sisters come over as well.”

The CMC just shook their heads in excitement and raced off. But Merry noticed that Scootaloo was heading over toward the park. So he quickly dropped the stuff off at his house and made a B-line to the park.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merry made his way to the park and toward the box that Scootaloo had been sleeping in. He saw her inside resting in the blankets.

“And what are you doing out here Scoots? I thought I told you to go home.”

“But, this is my home...”

“Nonsense, I thought you were living with me, remember? Now come on, get your stuff lets go.” Scootaloos face brightened up as she rushed forward and hugged Merry’s leg. She grabbed her scooter and blankets and other random things she had laying around. Merry grabbed as much as he could in his arms and lead the way back to their new home. When they got to the house Merry opened the door and walked inside in front of Scoot’s and said

“Welcome Home Scoot’s, You can stay as long as you want. Now go up stairs and pick out a room.”

“I finally have a home!” Scootaloo began to tear up “I have a real home.” She shook her head and wiped the tears away. “I’m gonna go find my room!” She raced up stairs and went left toward the master bedroom.

‘Oh no she doesn’t that rooms the only one with a bed big enough for me!’ Merry went up the stairs as well and opened the door to the master bed room but it was empty. He scratched his head and opened the room across from his and saw Scoots laying on the bed.

“Hey, get cleaned up now. We do have guests coming over, and its going to be dark soon.”

“Ook Merry.” She jumped off the bed and headed toward the bathroom while Merry went downstairs to put all the toys he had bought upstairs into one of the other rooms.

‘I probably didn’t need to buy this board game. After all I bought enough toy armaments to make a mock army.’ Merry sighed as he laid back in his new chair in his new living room. He looked outside his window and noticed it was starting to get dark. ‘Only a matter of time now before people start arriving, and I’m poor again.’

Merry laid back into his chair as he heard Scootaloo running around up stairs opening and closing doors. ‘Heh, she’s probably looking for all those toys we just got.’ Just then he heard a knock on his door.

“I wonder who’s the 1st to arrive...”

Author's Notes:

So it begins

7-21-2013: Fixed all the spelling errors I could find. I have no idea how I missed so many obvious ones. I must of been half a sleep while pre-reading this chapter.